It’s time! Let’s talk about garden planning. At this point in the - albeit, very mild - winter, I think we’re all ready to get going outside. The sun is setting later and the temps have been nice, which only makes us all that more excited to be able to return to our gardens. Whether you have a vegetable, flower, or mix of both, mapping out your garden is crucial for its success and your max enjoyment. So how do you start your garden planning?
First things first, identify what you want to do: Are we starting from scratch, just switching things up in an already established area, or doing a complete overhaul? Once that has been decided on, look at the area that you want to create your garden. Observe it throughout the day and make notes of a couple of key items:
1) The sun: How much sun does that area get and for how long?
2) The type of soil in the area (there are very simple pH tests that you can conduct with typical household items).
Easy at home pH test:
Collect a soil sample from your garden area(s).
Add a 1/2 C of water, followed by a 1/2 C of baking soda
If the soil fizzes, it's acidic.
Collect another soil sample from your garden area(s).
Add 1/2 c of water, followed by a 1/2 of household vinegar
If the soil fizzes, it's alkaline.
Depending on your soil and the type of plants you would like, you can add amendments to make the correct balance for them.
Let’s go back to the beginning and write down the purpose of the garden bed. Get creative and add an example design along with the written plan. What key phrases did you write down? Privacy, flowers, pollinator, vegetables? Those keywords are going to direct us in finding the appropriate plants. Any time you can get more specific, do it. For example, you want to create a pollinator garden but you really only want to attract bees not moths; or you said a vegetable garden, but you really only want tomatoes and fresh herbs; or you initially thought a ground bed would be best but after further thought decided that a container garden would be more manageable.
Now, start compiling a general list of the types of plants that fit the category you want. You can use a plant encyclopedia like this one to find the appropriate plants. Write down as many as you want, then start looking at the details: Do certain varieties do better together (companion planting), which are drought tolerant, which are very picky about their water intake, how tall does each variety grow? These types of questions will help you formalize the planting outline. It’s quite the fun puzzle, just match the flower varieties to the gardening environments in your designated areas. For instance, you want to plant a cut flower garden. The left side of your yard has plenty of sun and is on a hill so you plan coneflowers because they are drought tolerant and love sun, but towards the right side of your yard it dips and water drains that way, so you want to plant a wet soil loving flower like an iris or turtlehead (chelone).
Sun vs shade plants: You can always make a sunny area shady by adding shade of some sort (pergola, shade sails, or larger plants like trees or bushes), to accommodate desired shade plants, but it’s tough to add more sun to an area. That being said, even though a plant tag may say ‘full sun’, ‘part sun’, ‘full shade’, it often isn’t so exact and many plants have a bigger tolerance and can adapt. Just ask one of us and we can let you know from our experience which plants have a wider range!
Starting from scratch can be intimidating, but it is also very rewarding! This is what you have established so far:
One important environmental consideration to take when planning out your garden is the incorporation of native plants. Being native they are more fit to our hardiness zone so they can be less work year to year and they are helpful to both the local landscape and wildlife.
Learn more about garden planning at these resources:
